2008 G-20 Washington summit

The G- 20 summit in Washington 2008 (English G -20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, in German as " G -20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy" ) was an extraordinary summit on 15 and 16 November. , 2008 because of the financial crisis starting in 2007 with the participation of the group of Twenty major industrialized and emerging economies (G -20) as well as Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the IMF and the world Bank. It is usually referred to briefly in the German language as a world financial summit. Because some politicians and economists hope for a new Bretton Woods system (see Bretton Woods II regime ) harbored the summit in international media occasionally Bretton Woods was called II.

The summit meeting was the first meeting of the G -20 countries at the level of Heads of State and Government; these had always previously gathered only at the level of finance ministers. The summit went back to an initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. On the occasion of the meeting of G8 finance ministers on October 11, stressed U.S. President George W. Bush, the importance of the next G -20 summit was to find a solution to the financial and economic crisis.

Controversial issue was before the summit, the exact composition of the participating States. In particular, Spain, which is not part of the G -20, strove for an additional invitation. This was justified by the fact that Spain is on the one hand the world's eight largest industrialized country other hand, had successfully prevented by its traditionally strict regulation of financial markets, a banking crisis in their own country, and thus was considered a role model. While numerous States supported the Spanish application in Europe and Latin America, they rejected the United States from first. Ultimately, leaving France - which was both a member of the G -20 and at the time of the summit, European Council President, and therefore was entitled to two seats on the summit - one of its two seats to Spain. Moreover, were a Dutch still involved as part of the French delegation in the context of the Spanish delegation, a Czech representative at the summit. This should allow a certain continuity within the EU, as the Czech Republic would hold the EU Presidency in the first half of 2009.

Ultimately, however, hardly any binding decisions were made, but only issued a final communiqué with intent and policy proposals at the summit. In particular, the summit emphasized the need to avoid protectionism in the crisis. It was also discussed measures such as the launch of new stimulus programs, a global regulation of the financial markets and the fight against tax havens.

About a concrete implementation of these measures was discussed at a follow-up summit, which was held in London on 1 and 2 April 2009.